Aussie sets new 50m backstroke record

MOSCOW - Australian swimmer Marieke Guehrer set a new shortcourse world record of 26.17 seconds for the women's 50-metre backstroke at the Moscow leg of FINA's World Cup series.

Guehrer's time broke the previous best world mark of 26.23sec, set by Croatia's Sanja Jovanovic at Rijeka, Croatia on December 13, 2008.

Felicity Galvez won the 100m butterfly in 55.82sec while Liesel Jones returned to competition after a 15-month break with third place in the 100m breaststroke.

American Jessica Hardy won with a time of 1min 03.75sec while former world champion Jones clocked 1:04.61.

Jones, 24, will also contest the 50m and 200m breaststroke in her first international meet since taking a break following the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

- AAP